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Even though it is unclear when Punjab will hold elections—a politically significant province—Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party declared on Sunday that it will formally begin its election campaign there on Monday.
“Tehreek-e-Insaf’s election campaign will formally get under way tomorrow. PTI Secretary General Asad Umar tweeted, “They (the Pakistan Democratic Movement) may not be ready, but we are ready.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which is now in power, is the leader of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of political parties.
The most populous province, Punjab, which also sends close to 150 legislators to the National Assembly, is dubious about the elections, which makes PTI’s announcement of the start of its campaign all the more interesting.
The federal government must provide funding before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) may hold the elections. The Pakistan Army won’t be available to provide security, according to the Defence Ministry’s communication to the ECP.
As a result of the cash-strapped government’s refusal to approve the funds needed to cover the costs of the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces during the current economic crisis, Parliament and the courts have also clashed over the issue.
The federal government must release US$21 billion for the ECP by April 10 and guarantee election security, according to a Supreme Court order.
However, the government has resisted allocating money for the elections because the Parliament rejected the idea.
Additionally, the defence ministry petitioned the Supreme Court, requesting that it revoke its directive to hold elections on May 14. The Supreme Court is hearing the matter, and CJP Umar Ata Bandial stated during the hearing that the three-member bench will not withdraw its ruling for elections to be held on May 14.
On January 14 and January 18, respectively, the PTI dissolved the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an effort to pressure the Islamabad-based PDM alliance into holding early general elections for the nation.
The PTI has finalised a list of 297 candidates after PTI Chairman Khan personally interviewed each party candidate to uphold merit in granting party tickets, according to media reports.
But according to sources, the party’s allocation of tickets did not go smoothly because several prominent leaders were passed up.
While this was going on, sources told Geo News that Khan intended to address criticism by including Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the party’s vice chairman.
August of this year will mark the end of the current National Assembly’s five-year mandate. Elections must be held in accordance with the Constitution 90 days following the lower house’s dissolution. Consequently, the election has to take place by the middle of October. 2018’s July saw the most recent general election.
